


To Be A Murderer

by Kr1411



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen is a serial killer, Gen, No Eobard Thawne, Serial Killer Barry, Seriously Canon Divergent, couldn't be more AU, dark!Barry, not for young eyes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-05 00:02:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14031759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kr1411/pseuds/Kr1411
Summary: Barry’s story began when he was eleven, when his mother was murdered. When nobody believed his dad was innocent, that he didn’t kill his mother, he'd lost all faith in humanity.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Why did I write this exactly? Well, I thought it would be kind of interesting. I lowkey stole some elements from ACS: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, but not entirely. Enjoy!

Barry’s story began when he was eleven, when his mother was murdered. When nobody believed his dad was innocent, that he didn’t kill his mother, he lost all faith in humanity. 

The foster system ruined him completely. He was stuck in some seriously messed up foster homes, before finally getting adopted by the West’s. Iris knew Barry was different than he was before, but she tried to ignore it. She ignored it as much as Barry tried to be normal. 

The first time Barry actually  _ killed _ someone, it felt wonderful. He was 18, and just got into college. Barry knew how to cover up all signs it was him, but he didn’t know how to frame someone else yet. He would learn, though. He wanted someone to feel his father’s pain. 

Common belief is that Barry became a CSI for the sole purpose of proving his father innocent; that was only half the truth. See, Barry needed a way to cover up his crimes, to make the people who uphold the law believe he was too… _ innocent _ … to kill anyone. Besides, going to a CSI college, majoring in crime scenes? Perfect way to get ideas, and learn how to cover up his tracks.

Joe and Iris never knew. Barry never revealed anything to them, nor would he stay the night in their house. He felt bad enough, them thinking he was a good young man. Even if they didn’t know, they didn’t deserve to have a killer sleeping under their roof. 

As the years passed, more bodies dropped. Barry made himself known, or some sort of alter ego of his known. He didn’t have a name, but he was definitely feared in Central City. Every time he dropped a body, and severed, burned, or hung it, he would end up in the newspaper. Every time he saw a picture of his art in the paper, it made him feel proud. 

Joe made it known to Iris and Barry that he hated this guy. He gave both of them lessons on what to do if he approached either of them, and he even gave them guns. Little did Joe know, he gave the serial killer a gun. 

Now, Barry wasn’t  _ completely _ fearless. The one thing that constantly had him on edge was the Starling City vigilante coming to...  _ visit _ him. He may have had others killed, but he didn’t want to be one of the bodies in the paper. 

But when he found out who the Starling City Vigilante was, Barry knew he had the upper hand. Not only had he gotten on the Vigilante - no, the Arrow’s good side, but the Arrow also thought of him as a weak nerd from Central City. It was  _ perfect. _

What wasn’t perfect? Getting struck by lightning. He couldn’t worry about this while he was comatose, but what if people put the pieces together? Local CSI gets struck by lightning, and around the same time bodies stop dropping. 

When Barry woke up, Central City was more relaxed. He noticed that people would go out at night more, and no one was paranoid. It was like he lost his grasp on the city. This wouldn’t stand. 

Of course, Barry wasn’t stupid. Of course, he was hungry and full of bloodlust, but he couldn’t go right back to dropping bodies as soon as he could. That would basically scream, “ _ My name is Barry Allen, and I am a cold-blooded killer!”  _

Then he discovered he had super speed. Naturally, he went to Oliver, he wanted the Arrow to believe he was a hero now. Had to keep him under his finger. Then, he found out Cisco made a suit, and it was perfect! Not only did one of his alter ego’s have a suit now, but he could make the other one a friction proof suit and get more…  _ creative  _ with his ways! 

Those that knew Barry was the flash, he didn’t have to worry about with his…  _ other  _ job. Why would a superhero be a wanted serial killer anyway? 

God, he really needed to come up with a name for himself. 

That’s where he is now. Having just stopped a tornado, the relief of saving a life wasn’t /nearly as good as taking one. He had to hide his anger. If Barry didn’t get a life on his hands soon, he would surely go insane.

He was only awake for a day, people would know. 

_ Not if they don’t find the body. _

Barry mentally thought out what he would do, while Singh was talking to him and Joe. He made it look like he was checked in, though. He would  _ not _ allow Singh to give him a medical leave. He needed work. It was one of the reasons he was still sane, if you could still say he was. 

Once Singh was done rambling, and told Barry to go home, Barry gladly complied. He could  _ feel _ his heart rate increasing, his sanity slowly going down. Killing was like his drug, if he didn’t get his fix in he would go through withdrawl. 

Barry sped to his apartment, he had to get his mask, before leaving again. He didn’t take anything with him, though; this was simply a grab-and-go mission. 

Barry got into an alleyway in a not so crowded part of town, and waited. 

And waited. 

Finally, a man who appeared to be in his late thirties walked by, and Barry pounced on him. He covered the man’s mouth with his hand, and dragged him into the alleyway, before flashing him back to Barry’s house. Normally, Barry wouldn’t bring any of his victims back to his house, but he had the time to clean up their messes now. 

He sat the man on one of his kitchen chairs, and zipped around his house to find a rope. He knew he had one; everything would be useful eventually. He tied the man to the chair, and duct-taped his mouth. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve been around, huh?” Barry asked, twirling a knife in his hand. “Yeah. I was…  _ out  _ for a while. Turns out people aren’t as afraid of you when you take a nine-month hiatus. Fucking lightning,” he continued, while the man tried to squirm out of the chair. Barry chuckled. Even in the man escaped, there was no way he would get away alive. 

“Don’t bother trying to escape. See, over the nine months, I acquired a new…  _ superpower, _ so to say. A speedy one at that,” Barry explained. “Even if you get out of that chair, there is no getting away.” Barry walked up to the man and dragged the tip of the blade to the struggling man’s arm. He then grabbed the duct-tape, and taped the man’s eyes. 

Dragging the blade further down, Barry watched in admiration as blood droplets popped out. It really has been too long. 

“Alright, I’m tired of waiting,” Barry said, and with that, he plunged the knife into the man’s heart, once, twice, three times, before he started laughing. 

His heart rate was too high.

He kept laughing. 

The body fell limp in his kitchen chair. 

He laughed even more. 

Eventually, he stopped, and he cleaned. If you were to go into his apartment, it was as if he never killed a man into his kitchen.

He sped the man to the lake bordering Central City, and dumped him there. Another perk of superspeed: it provided an easy body disposal. 

Barry sighed in relief as he looked at his clean kitchen. 

Man, it really has been too long. Starting tonight, his mission to take back the city was underway. 


	2. Chapter 2

Barry woke up with a familiar exhilarating feeling in his chest, the one he got every time the morning after he committed a murder. It was amazing, like all of his problems had been washed away with him. 

He didn’t feel like going to work. He had a late night and all, but alas, he had to. Cisco wanted to help him “get into the groove” of this whole hero thing. Of course, Barry had to agree, if he didn’t want his cover blown. 

It was a fire. Fire was such an ametuer object, he knew it had to be someone being irresponsible in their kitchen. Barry “overshot,” then saved all of the people from the building. Of course, it’s not a real fire if no one died, so Barry sped to one of the elders at superspeed, and turned off his oxygen tank. He knew it was a low blow, but if he was on oxygen then he probably didn’t have that long anyway. 

After that was taken care of, Barry had to report back at STAR Labs. He put on a guilty face, and sped to the cortex. 

Caitlin was standing there, glaring at Cisco when he walked in. “Uh-oh,” Barry said in a taunting tone. Caitlin spun around and started glaring at him as well.

“Why the hell did you think it was a good idea to go out? You literally just got your speed  _ yesterday _ . What were you thinking?” She demanded, harshly. 

Barry shrugged. “Cisco wanted to see what I could do, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to find out,” he said nonchalantly. His phone began to ring, just as Caitlin opened her mouth to continue ranting. 

“Look, Caitlin, as much as I love your concern for my safety, I’m fine. I’ll be safe,” Barry said, before accepting the call and walking out.

“Hello?” Barry asked. 

“ _ Allen, there was a fire… _ ” Singh said, and Barry cut him off. 

“I actually think I saw that when I was walking this morning, I’ll make my way over now,” Barry said, coming up with an excuse on the fly. 

Barry could hear Singh give a sigh of relief on the other line. “ _ Thank you so much, Allen. I tried the other CSI but he wasn’t picking up. I still think you need some rest, but you’re our best CSI, _ ” he said and Barry smiled. He’d better be the best CSI; he wouldn’t stand for any less. 

He used his speed to get back over to the fire area, and the first thing he saw was a bunch of cops looking over the dead body. Barry grabbed his camera and walked over to the body. 

Joe walked up to Barry as Barry was taking pictures of the evidence. “Looks like his oxygen was off,” Joe said, clearly disturbed by what happened. Barry walked over, and pretended to be surprised. Years of experience meant that Barry was a great liar. Especially when it came to investigating his own cases. 

“Why would he turn his oxygen off? Did he have a deathwish?” Barry asked, concerned. He already knew the answer, though. God, he couldn’t wait for tonight; he needed to keep up these kills if he wanted to get the city back under his thumb. 

Joe shrugged. “I could go interview his family, but I think his wife is in a nursing home a couple miles down,” he said. 

“I could go with you,” Barry offered. He didn’t want to seem  _ too  _ suspicious or anything. 

With permission from the captain, the two went off. On the way, Joe decided to inform Barry of a missing persons report. 

“His name was Dr. Matthew Stuart, apparently he was working late last night. His wife called in this morning, saying he never came home after his shift,” Joe said, looking ahead. Barry looked out the window, mostly to hide his smirk. He knew exactly who Joe was talking about. Another perk of being a CSI serial killer: You can easily identify your victims. It was obvious the guy from the night before was a doctor, not that Barry paid much mind to it. It wouldn’t help the guy, “Matthew,” anyway. 

“Did you send out a search team?” Barry asked, acting concerned. He really couldn’t care less. 

“No, legally she has to wait 24 hours,” Joe said sadly. “She’s going to call again tomorrow, so it can become official.”

“What a shame,” Barry said, looking back at Joe. “Maybe he’s having an affair and he’s too ashamed to face his wife,” he made up. What else was he supposed to do?

Joe shrugged. “It’s possible,” he said, with an unsteady voice. It was then they pulled into the nursing home. 

It was a simple get in, get out type thing. Joe showed genuine sympathy to the man’s wife (Barry didn’t know how Joe knew who she was - he had to know the elderly man’s name, but why didn’t he tell Barry?) while Barry showed pretend sympathy. He didn’t care. He didn’t even want to be here!

There have been many times where Barry wished he could just quit his job, and just kill people for a living. But sadly, he couldn’t. Not if he wanted to solve his mother’s case, or if he didn’t want to get caught. 

It was over soon enough. The man (First name, James, as his wife kept saying James. Joe called her Mrs. Cooley - James Cooley was probably his name) hadn’t been suicidal as far as his wife knew. And he was a good husband, he visited his wife every day. So, Joe decided, it was most likely a murder. 

Barry didn’t feel like interviewing the whole apartment complex. That was too much, and he had to plot for his next victim! 

“Joe, I’m going to go take a break, I’m not feeling too well,” Barry said once they got back to the crime scene. He feigned discomfort, and Joe clearly believed it. 

“Yeah, don’t over work yourself, Barr. Go home, I’m sure Singh will understand,” Joe said softly, giving Barry a kind smile. Barry smiled back, and ran out of view before speeding back to his apartment. 

He didn’t know if he should tell Joe about his speed or not. Chances were Joe would find out eventually, but what if Barry wanted to kill someone using his speed, and someone saw? Chances were he’d get screwed over. 

Speaking of which, Barry didn’t even  _ want _ to imagine what would happen if Iris found out. That was his worst nightmare, and he’s a serial killer. 

Night fell, and Barry decided to turn on the news as he waited for the right time to attack. 

_ Stagg industries shooting - Today, at approximately 4:00 pm, while Simon Stagg was holding his press release, four men in all black with guns started to rob the place, demanding all guests hand over their finest jewelry.  _

_ Stagg told us later that there was nobody who had a reason to rob him and try to kill him. Nothing else was said from Stagg on the case.  _

Barry paused the TV.  _ Interesting _ , he thought. Maybe he could use his alter ego, the good one, to help protect Simon Stagg. That would get him trust points with Caitlin and Cisco, right? And maybe even Harrison Wells. He hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to Wells, but he had to make sure he could trust the man before he worked with him. Maybe, instead of killing someone tonight, he’d start working on this case. 

Yeah. He’d do that. Easy enough, right?


End file.
